tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1377411732843394854.post4284130680277233617..comments2024-02-18T06:41:44.121-05:00Comments on Thinking Out Loud In Sturbridge: Something So SimpleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1377411732843394854.post-54521706139956952212010-09-02T09:37:42.488-04:002010-09-02T09:37:42.488-04:00Thanks Wally. Yes, it sure is good to "hear&q...Thanks Wally. Yes, it sure is good to "hear" that others think the same way, and this page gives us the opportunity to say what we think without a "yeah but" breaking in while we say it. As you clearly know, when we just tell it like it is, it's like some power takes over and writes it for us. All we have to do is be there to work the computer keyboard. Thanks for providing the space, and keep up the good work.Maple Leafnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1377411732843394854.post-89681440745056855572010-09-02T07:32:36.021-04:002010-09-02T07:32:36.021-04:00@ It could be so easy: Hmmm...it may just work, L...@ It could be so easy: Hmmm...it may just work, LOL!--Wally<br /><br />@Maple Leaf: You have summed up the past 40 years into 13 paragraphs. Well written, and well said. I am glad there are more "out there" that think out loud the same way.--WallyWally Herseehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11052949223548827269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1377411732843394854.post-6388918945598642582010-09-01T21:24:55.566-04:002010-09-01T21:24:55.566-04:00Solution:
If were able to find a way to create des...Solution:<br />If were able to find a way to create designer zombie babies in the first place, when they got older the old zombies wouldn't require medication, and everyone would be happy - well, not happy exactly, but really, really quiet :-)It could be so easynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1377411732843394854.post-61373634292525452010-09-01T20:52:35.414-04:002010-09-01T20:52:35.414-04:00The world sure has changed in the past 2 or three ...The world sure has changed in the past 2 or three generations. <br />Kids used to simply ask the parents if they could play with Johnny or if Susie could come over. 'Not a formally planned "play date," just something spontaneous. The mothers didn't have to sit there as directors, or need to have a coffee klatch while the kids did whatever they do on play dates. Mother's didn't have time for that. They just kept an eye on the kids and did what needed doing at the same time. If the child's friend didn't show up, he or she would feel bad, get over it, and find something else to do.<br /><br />Toys often were nothing more than sticks, stones, water, dirt, leaves, flowers, butterflies and insects, and there wasn't anything boring about that. If one was able to add a little something like a magnifying glass, or a hammer and nails, or a piece of string,<br />the number of possibilities seemed endless. A fishing pole could be made from a stick, a piece of string, and hook if, there was a hook to be spared or if it could be "invented." A keepsake for Mom or Grandma or a sweetheart could be made by directing the sun through a magnifying glass onto a chunky stick, and burning a phrase of endearment onto the bark.<br />Dirt and water? The mixtures one could make, and the tiny rivers one could control by making a path with a stick or a dam with stones! Flowers of clover became hairpieces, and dandelion stems became straws. And there were so many more things to do. Singing. making up jokes and judging each others “acts”.... I could go on forever.<br /><br />What happened? One thing is that folks began to think they needed more stuff about the same time that they decided they needed to "find themselves." And the race to the "perfect life" began.<br /><br />With prosperity came the "need" for more prosperity. We needed things we never knew we needed, and oh, we needed them badly. Molly's little hand-me-down pinafore and Tommy's patched play pants suddenly looked just awful compared to the new casual wear their friends wore. The King family had a TV, and, so did the Grays, but the Smith's had a color TV. Should we still use our old record player while the Jones family listened to stereo? I guess not!<br /><br />And on, and on it went. Now we needed bottled water, but not just any bottled water. We needed extra fancy pants bottled water. Dinner at a local restaurant, which had been little more than a dream a generation earlier, began to seem boring to some, and became dinner in Boston. And on and on it went.<br /><br />Perfection? Nope. Not by a long shot. Our children kept coming along and gumming up the works by not always being at the head of the class, or the most popular, or the best looking, or whatever else we expected to have been included in the mold that made them.<br /><br />What to do? Remodel the mold! Start them off in school at age 6? No way. The sooner the better. Age two might be too old. We needed them to be prepared to prepare for kindergarten.<br /><br />Recess? A waste of time. What would we expect the kids to learn from a game of hopscotch or jacks or jumping rope, or from standing around asking each other questions? What's so good about running around and flapping your arms on a crisp autumn day? What’s so great about wondering why the leaves change colors, or crunching the dry leaves under your feet? What's so great about seeing kids on a cool autumn day with pink cheeks and sparkling eyes?<br /><br />Just think of all the time wasted with unstructured recess. Aren't children who have been in school since age two mature enough to handle a full school day by now?<br /> <br />Would we even know "perfection" if we saw it?<br /><br />If we can't find a way to have mature adults around to allow our children to be immature wonder seeking kids for these precious childhood years, do we even deserve to have them?<br /><br />Some of us should just have puppies.Maple Leafnoreply@blogger.com